Shoe fastener



Jan. 18, 1949. R. WEBB ET AL SHOE FAS TENERS Filed March 19, 1947 RICHHRD WEBB N0 CHHRLES V. WEBB,

. /NyE/vToRs Patented Jan. 18, 1949 SHOE FASTENER Richard- Webb and Charles V. Webb, LosAngeles', Calif.

Application March 19, 1947, SerialiNo. 735,697

(CLM-.68)

6 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in shoe fasteners for securing., together thecleft upper portions of womens shoes, Oxfords and the like.

Among the vast number of wearers of some form or other of foot apparel, it is well known that the present form of shoe lacings to lace together the cleft uppers of wcmens footwear possesses many disadvantages, among which may be prominently mentioned the following: They do not add to the dressiness of the shoe, but serve to detract from rather than embellish the artistic appearance a woman is so desirous of presenting in her home, in public and on the` street. In addition there is to be considered the time and inconvenience required in tying and retying, the annoyance caused by breaking of the laces, the cost and time of replacing them, and finally the inability of stout or elderly people to maintain a stooping position long enoughv to lace and unlace the shoe.

Important objects of the invention are to provide a device which will eliminate the foregoing disadvantages and at the same time createA for the wearer a better appearance through its wear.

Among further and more specific objects are:

securing means for connecting together the parts of the shoe upper; and to provide a novel combination of latching and unlatching means for adjustably securing such parts of the shoe upper together.

A still further object of the invention is to provide, as an article of manufacture, a shoe clamping buckle engageable with the eyelets of different kinds of shoes for fastening purposes.

With the above and still other objects iny view the invention consists in thepecu'liar construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which discloses the preferred embodiment now found to be of a practical nature, and pointed out later in the subject matter claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the device applied to a womans oxford.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the device per se, some portions being broken away to contract the view and to show underlying structure.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the device similarly positioned to that shown in Fig. 2, but on a somewhat reduced scale as applied to a shoe,

the shoe upper and tongue being shown in section.

Fig. lv isa view similar to Fig. 3, but with the parts of the device shown in their 4operative positions.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 5 designates an article of footwear having an upper 5 provided with a cleft 'i along thev adjacent edges of which are shown the usual eyelets 8 which heretofore have been utilized for running a lacing through to narrowV the cleft in the well known manner after theV article of footwear has been applied to the foot.-

In order to eliminate the use of alace for narrowing the cleft of the upper, the disadvantages of which have been previouslypointed out, I provide a. shoe fastener simulating in some degree af, buckle, which is adapted to beconnected to they conventional eyelets 8, 8a for the same general purpose of narrowing the cleft as aforesaid. y

TheV fastener buckle comprises in general two interlocking or interclasping levers 9 and IU pivotedy respectively near their juxtaposed'` hookabletogether ends to the cleft-narrowing means IJI andv i2'.

Theme'ans I'I is of plate like construction while the means I2 is of flattened tubular construction, a. portion ofv the upper side. of the flattened tubular construction being slotted at I3 throughout the greater portion of its length to provide a gui'd'eway for the upturned tongue I4 to slide in when the means II and I2 are telescopically mounted as best shown in Fig. 2.

The means II is provided with a pair of upturnedears I5 located approximately at the mid length portion thereof and the means I2 is provided With a pair cf upwardly directed ears IB located adjacent the inner end portion thereof. TheV levers 9 and l0 respectively having down'- wardl'y depending pairs of flanges I1 and i8 which embrace the pairs of' ears I5 and I6, and means liand' 20 pivotally securing the respective ears and flanges together.

Lever 9 has its inner end up-curled thus providing a hook 2I extending transversely thereacross and link IU has its inner end down-curled thus providing a hook 22 extending transversely thereacross to cooperate with the hook 2| at the time it is desired to narrow the cleft 1.

The means II is connected adjustably to the eyelet 8 of the upper at one side of the cleft and the means I2 is connected adjustably to the eyelet 8a, of the upper at the opposite sideof the cleft. This adjustment is provided for the reason that the eyelets adjacent the vamp of the shoe are closer together than the eyelets where the instep occurs.

A rivet 23 is shown extending through the eyelet 8 and projecting through one of a series of holes 24 in the part Ii to secure the latter part to the shoe upper, and a rivet 25 is shown extending through the eyelet 8a and projecting through one of a series of holes 26 in the part l2 to secure the latter part to the shoe upper.

When the parts are assembled in relation to the shoe as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, by manually grasping the levers with the hands and drawing the sides of the cleft shoe upper together, the

hooks 2| and 22 may be made to approach eachl other until their respective curls interlock or clasp whereupon a downward movement-of the free ends of the levers will further cause a contraction of the cleft until the edges of the cleft more nearly join as shown in Fig. 4.

The ends of the levers 9 and I9 are each provided with locking ears 2'! and 23. In the clamped-down position of the levers said ears secure the respective ends of the levers against accidental displacement, Also when the vparts are assembled as shown in Fig. 2 and then applied to the shoe as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the telescopic relation of the parts H and I2 will be maintained through the cooperation of the tongue i4 with the shoulder 25, said shoulder resulting from the fact that the slot I3 terminates in a spaced relation to the inner end of the member l2.

What is claimed is:

l. A- pair of levers having juxtaposed curled ends adapted to be brought into a clasping relation with each other, means each having one end portion secured to an eyelet on each side of a cleft portion of a shoe, the other end portions of said means having a telescopic interlocking relation with each other, a pair of upstanding ears carried by one of said means intermediate its ends, a pair of upstanding ears carried by the other means adjacent its unattached end, pairs of anges depending from the side edge portions of said levers adjacent their curled ends and embracing said pairs of ears, and means pivotally securing said pairs oi ears and flanges together.

2. The subject matter of claim l and, said levers being manually depressible subsequent to the clasping of their juxtaposed ends, and locking means carried by said levers and engageable with said eyelet securing means when said levers are in their fully depressd positions.

3. Means adjustably connectable with an eyelet of a'shoe at one side of the cleft portion there` of, means adjustably connectable with-a com# panion eyelet of a shoe at the other side of the cleft portion thereof, one of said means having a telescopic relation to the other part, vlocking means carried by one of said means to maintain the telescopic relation aforesaid, and means pivotally carried by each means forming the eyelet 4 spanning means and having juxtaposed ends adapted to be brought into a clasping relation and manually manipulatable to bring their pivotal mountings closer together.

4. Fastening means for holding adjacent to each other the cleft portions of a shoe upper, said upper having at least one eyelet adjacent to each side of its cleft; comprising an elongated, flatly tubular strip of stiiT sheet material, means carried by said strip and cooperating with an aforesaid eyelet of the shoe to attach said strip exteriorly to the shoe with said strip extending at substantially a right angle to the cleft of the shoe, a second elongated rigid strip having an vend portion telescoped into that end portion of the aforesaid attened strip that is nearest to the cleft of the shoe, said second strip carrying means attaching it to the shoe which cooperates with another of the aforesaid eyelets of the shoe, a lever pivotally connected with said flattened strip superadjacent to its upper surface, and another lever pivotally connected with the other one of said strips superadjacent to the up-v per surface' thereof, each of said levers having an end portion furnished with a hook engageable with the hook of the other and each lever having an opposite end portion directed outwardly from the cleft of the shoe and downswingable to bring the lever to a shoe latching locked position.

5. The *subject matter of claim 4, and said intelescoped strip bridging the cleft part of the shoe when the device is in its applied position.

6. Fasteningimeans for holdingadjacent to each other the cleft portions of'a shoe upper comprising two elongated members one of which has an end portion directed across the cleft portion of a shoe, the opposite end portionof said one member being attached to the shoe, and a second member attached to the shoe at the opposite side of its cleft, said second member slidably embracing the iirst member so that the inner end portion of said second member may be slid farther, along the first member thereby drawing together the cleft portion of the shoe, and two levers one pivoted to one of said members and the other to the other of said members, said levers having cooperating hooked end portions arranged for being brought into engagement with each other when said second member is slid as aforesaid to draw together the cleft portions of the shoe, said levers being thereupon manually operable further to contract the cleft portions of the shoe.

RICHARD WEBB.` CHARLES V. WEBB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 758,787 Shorten May 3, 1904 1,201,201 Laforest 0ct. 10, 1916 

